


Terms of Endearment

by Shinybug



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Bottom Steve McGarrett, But only if you squint, F/M, Female Danny "Danno" Williams, First Time, Gunshot Wounds, Hurt/Comfort, Medicinal Drug Use, Minor Violence, Mutual Pining, Some Plot, Top Danny "Danno" Williams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-07 16:36:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20820431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinybug/pseuds/Shinybug
Summary: In which Danny Williams doesn't know herself nearly as well as she thinks she does, and Steve has enough feels for the both of them. A near tragedy brings them together, but it may not be enough to build a future on.





	Terms of Endearment

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired to see what Danny would be like as a woman, with the same personality and quirks. I'm not sure I nailed it perfectly, but it was really fun to try. Somehow it turned into an actual fic with an almost-plot. Still not sure how that happened.

Never let it be said that Danielle Williams couldn’t compartmentalize. She had so many compartments she was practically a piece of Ikea storage furniture. She had a compartment for the complicated relationship she had with her mother, she had a compartment for Stan and their failed, disastrous marriage, she had a compartment that was purely full of love for her daughter Grace, she had a compartment for Steve McGarrett her certifiably insane task force partner (what kind of person dangles suspects off of rooftops, honestly?), and she had a compartment for how she felt about Steve McGarrett the man.

Danny liked to have all of her emotions neatly organized, and she was proud of her own self-knowledge. Everything had its place, so she could see trouble coming a mile away. She could prioritize, she could shore up those walls, she could be rational.

The problem was that despite her best efforts, some of those compartments were collapsing.

~~~~

“I know we’ve talked about this, oh I don’t know, maybe a dozen times at least. But since you seem to need a reminder, McGarrett--that was a red light, Jesus--you do not get to call me ‘babe.’”

Steve shot Danny a look that was probably supposed to be equal parts innocent and charming, as he took a corner on two wheels. “I call everyone ‘babe’, it’s a term of endearment!”

Danny raked her short blond hair off her face with one hand and grabbed the ‘oh shit’ handle above the door with the other. “You do not call everyone ‘babe,’ I can’t think of a single instance in which you have in fact called anyone else ‘babe’ in the whole time I’ve known you.”

Steve frowned a bit and deftly maneuvered Danny’s car in front of the suspect’s, bringing them both to a tire-burning halt in the middle of a busy intersection. Danny winced and braced for an impact that never came, as cars from four directions all converged on their location. Steve, damn him, looked pleased.

“I don’t mean it in a derogatory way,” Steve protested later, as he slapped cuffs on their most recently acquired lowlife. “I’m not calling you ‘babe’ like, ‘hey babe, bring me a beer.’ It’s more like, ‘hey babe, hey buddy, hows it bruddah,’ you know, like that. I’d probably still call you ‘babe’ if you were a guy, honestly.”

Danny quirked her eyebrows at him skeptically, while trying to be pleased that she had just been lumped in with Steve’s male friends, because that was kind of the goal, after all. “Okay but you realize what kind of message that sends to other people, right?”

“Yeah, man, you’re not being very respectful of her as a female of equal social standing,” interjected the perp on the ground, craning his neck and squinting up at them in the bright sunshine.

Steve clicked the handcuffs just a little bit tighter around the wrists of Johnny Akana, very lately employed as a money launderer for a not-very-successful drug ring, and the unimpressive man made a gratifying ‘oof’ sound.

“Nobody asked you,” said Steve at the same time that Danny said, “Thanks, Johnny,” and Johnny just looked resigned to his fate.

“Okay so what do I call you then?” Steve asked, standing up and stepping closer to Danny, so that Danny had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. “Danielle?”

“Don’t you ever.”

“Well then what?” His eyes were positively sparkling.

“I don’t know, I suppose you could try Danny, or Williams, since that’s my legal name, which have been perfectly acceptable and which you have used for our whole partnership. Frankly I’m amazed that I have to remind you.”

Steve’s mouth kicked up ruefully at one corner, which absolutely in no way made Danny’s heart give an extra hard thump. “I really am sorry, Danny. I never meant it like that.”

Danny took a deep breath, determined, as she had been from the beginning, to see Steve as a partner first and a fantastically attractive human being second, since that’s what she was trying to convince him to do for her. Even though it was damned hard sometimes. “I know, I’m just giving you shit. Mostly.”

Steve huffed a laugh and whacked her on the shoulder with his forearm as he walked past her toward the car. “Book ‘em, Danno.”

“And another thing,” Danny called after him as she hauled Johnny to his feet and handed him to a waiting officer. “You know that ‘Danno’ is also not my name, except from the mouth of Grace, who could frankly call me anything and I would respond happily, because it’s Grace. You are not Grace, ergo...you get the idea.”

“You have so many rules,” Steve said over his shoulder as he climbed into the driver's seat of Danny’s car. “I can’t be expected to remember them all. Oh, and don’t forget you’re bringing chips and dip tonight.”

“McGarrett, you really are a schmuck, you know that?”

“I know, I’m just giving you shit,” he replied with a wink, and Danny did not want to climb him like an insufferably annoying tree, no she did not, no matter how he looked at her sometimes lately. Because that was a complication she strived to avoid at all costs. Her life was complicated enough as it was.

~~~~

"The thing about Steve McGarrett, the thing is, here's the thing," Danny explained as she gestured expansively with her Longboard and swept her hair back off her face, while Kono appeared to be fighting to keep a serious expression, "it's that Steve McGarrett is too attractive for his own good. He's a shining paragon of manhood, and he knows it, but he acts like he doesn't, but he really does, you know?" 

"Mmhmm," Kono agreed, though it was unclear to Danny whether she was agreeing with Danny's point or just agreeing in order to keep the conversation going. Obviously Danny needed to elaborate further. 

“It’s just, everywhere we go he's got all eyes on him, and I'm like, what am I, chopped liver?" 

Kono coughed. "I'm not sure you're trying to pull from the same crowd, girlfriend."

"I just mean he's got all the authority and I'm a five foot nothing loud-mouthed haole chick from Jersey standing in his shadow." 

"Everyone's in his shadow, he's a freak of nature," Kono agreed, bumping Danny's shoulder with her own. 

"You know, I fought hard to get where I am, and I didn't get here by sleeping with my bosses, let me tell you that. Not that he's interested. Or that I am. We’ve had this weirdly great, uncomplicated and also death defying partnership for a year now, why rock the boat?”

“Rocky boats are the worst.” Kono nodded indulgently and sipped her margarita.

Danny heaved a sigh and drained her beer, wondering if she should get one more, or if she was already skirting the boundaries of too buzzed for common sense. She had kind of lost the thread of her own argument somewhere around the beginning of beer number two, and already her mouth was running faster than she could keep up. At least it was only to Kono. If she couldn't trust Kono, she couldn't trust anyone. 

She looked out across the lanai at the people she had come to consider her family, more than just her coworkers, laughing and enjoying the sunset and the Friday night barbecue. The barbecue at Steve's house, in Steve's backyard. With Steve, looming large over everyone and being too, too charming. 

"Ugh, I should just go home, I'm verging on maudlin and you know how much I hate maudlin. And I've got an early start tomorrow." 

"You've got Grace this weekend? You know the offer still stands for those surf lessons…" 

"Hahaha no. Sorry. I'm not there yet." 

Kono grinned. "No worries, sistah. You just say the word." 

Danny just groaned. “And another thing about McGarrett,” she huffed, smacking her hand down on the snacks table while Kono sighed and looked heavenward. “He won’t leave me alone about the ocean thing! Why can’t he just accept that I do not want to spend any more time in open water than absolutely necessary? He has the tenacity of a barnacle, I swear to god, and the social graces of one too.”

“He’s also standing right there,” Kono advised her.

“Shit,” Danny sighed, and turned to face her partner.

“Who has social graces?” Steve asked, reaching out to swap her empty bottle for a full one, because he knew her so well he could anticipate her, the jerk.

“You,” Danny said sweetly, saluting him with her beer.

He gave her a slow blink as he thanked her, letting on that he had heard most of that last rant and did not care in the slightest. “Hey, I’m sorry Grace couldn’t come tonight. Kamekona was asking about her, I think he wants her to come by his truck and sample his new shave ice flavor.”

Danny smothered a grin. “What is it this time?”

“Tapioca and lime, I think.”

Kono made a face and a gurgling sound in her throat. “On that note, I think I hear Chin calling me.” She slipped quickly away, leaving Danny and Steve alone.

“Grace is at a party with Stan and Rachel tonight,” Danny said, and couldn’t help the thread of aggravation that crept into her voice at the mention of her ex-husband. “She told me she would rather have come here, but Stan insisted, and it’s his night anyway. I have her this weekend.”

Steve’s eyes were kind. “Hey, it’s all good, why don’t you bring her by tomorrow if you don’t have other plans, and we’ll go swimming, you know she loves that. I’ll grill up some leftovers from tonight, we’ll make it a party for three.”

Danny wanted to say no, because she was trying to limit the time she spent with Steve outside of work. It was bad enough that her growing interest in Steve had begun to bleed into her interactions with him at work. She didn’t need to feed that monster by hanging out with him every weekend, which they had developed a habit of doing whenever Cath was out of town. His house needed constant repairs, and Danny happened to be unrivaled in the art of spackling over bullet holes. 

Still, she knew she would agree, because she knew Grace would love to spend a day here, and Danny would do anything to ensure that Grace didn’t suffer through the transitions of switching households every week. She had Grace Monday through Wednesday, and alternating weekends. Grace seemed to be taking it in stride, because she was an awesome little superhuman, in fact she seemed more adaptable than Danny was to be honest. Every time Danny dropped her off at the front steps of Stan’s palatial estate that he shared with his new wife Rachel, something died a little bit inside her.

“Yeah, thanks McGarrett. She’ll love that. I’ll bring her over after lunch, we’ve got a playdate in the morning.”

“You know, if I’m supposed to just call you Danny, you really should just call me Steve, after all this time. McGarrett is what my enemies call me.” His eyes were warm and laughing, though his face was serious.

Danny took a drink of her beer, hoping her face wasn’t turning red. “I never said you were supposed to call me Danny, just that it was preferable to ‘babe.’ And I do call you Steve, I just do it behind your back. I wouldn’t want you to think I actually like you, or something. I also call you a goof, and a schmuck.”

“Yeah, but I always assumed those were terms of endearment,” Steve replied, and he looked like he was enjoying this conversation far too much.

“Well, I suppose you could see it that way, if you were truly desperate and starved for attention. Which I know you are not, Smooth Dog. Speaking of that, how’s Cath? I figured she’d be here tonight.”

Steve rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. “She’s deployed right now,” he said shortly, and left it at that.

“Oh, okay,” Danny said, blinking. “I see you’re having some feelings, so what is this, what is that face?”

“Feelings? I’m not having feelings, why would you say that?”

“Well, you did that thing you do, the neck thing, which means you’re having a feeling but don’t know what to do with it. God forbid you admit you’re having a feeling.”

Steve scrunched up his forehead. “The neck thing? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I mean, you don’t have to tell me, I just think you should tell somebody. It looks like this one is a doozy, so maybe go find a friend to talk to.” Danny looked around, about to point him in the direction of Chin, when Steve tapped her on the shoulder with his knuckles.

“Who would I tell? You’re my best friend, Danno. If I was gonna talk about my feelings I would talk to you, right?”

Danny winced internally, both pleased and dismayed. “Well then, as your best friend I say, spill it, Steve.”

Steve looked away and sighed hard, a punch of sound. “We called it quits. Or she did, anyway.”

Danny waited, but nothing else was forthcoming. “And? You’re clearly not fine with it.”

“I’m…I mean it’s probably for the best. We have a lot in common but not the right things, I guess.”

“I’m sorry, I thought you guys were great together. I like Cath a lot, she puts up with your shit better than I do most days,” Danny admitted. Honestly, inside she was beginning to feel uneasy. His relationship with Cath, begun before Danny even met Steve, was the main reason besides the work complication that kept Danny striving for an emotional distance. She wasn’t sure what a single Steve would look like, or how to handle it. She tugged at the collar of her button down shirt, feeling suddenly too warm and restricted.

Steve shrugged, looking rueful. “I guess she thought my attention was too divided,” he added softly, pointedly not looking at Danny as he said it.

Danny didn’t know how to process that. Another beer had definitely not been a good idea. “She thought--I mean why did--do you want me to talk to her? Is it because we hang out so much? Because there’s nothing--”

“Exactly, there’s nothing.” Steve took a long pull from his beer. “But no, it’s over, it’s been a couple months now. There’s no point in talking to her. It was pretty amicable at least. No hysterics. I think that must mean that it wasn’t worth saving in the first place, right?”

Danny searched Steve’s face, forlorn and seeking reassurance. She couldn’t believe it had been months since Cath left, and she was only finding out about it now, practically under duress. But then again this was Steve McGarrett. “Hey, her loss. I’m glad you told me, though. You feel better now?”

“Not a bit,” Steve replied, but he clinked his bottle against hers.

Danny swayed toward him, just the tiniest amount, probably millimeters, but it felt like miles. He was just so tall, he towered over her and made her feel small, delicate in a way she never saw herself otherwise. She could smell the fresh scent of his soap coming off the warmth of his body, and she jerked back like someone waking suddenly from sleep.

“You gonna be okay to drive?” Steve asked, looking at her beer and then her face. “You can crash on my couch if you need.”

Danny swallowed, her throat aching. It wouldn’t be the first time she had stayed over on the couch, but it suddenly felt like the worst idea in the world. “Nah, I’m good. I’ll just switch to water, but thanks. Really.”

“Anytime.” His voice was too soft, and the night was too warm.

Shit shit shit, Danny thought as she smiled at Steve and left to find the cooler with the water bottles. She was so very screwed.

~~~~

The next morning saw Danny in front of her closet mirror, examining her life choices and her outfit. Because she was a serious professional from someplace other than Hawaii, where they redefined the idea of business casual, she defaulted to crisp button downs and slacks that could withstand the rigors of chasing suspects across rooftops and taking cover from gunfire on a regular basis. 

She didn't really have a lot of 'day off' outfits, she was discovering. 

And she shouldn't care. She rarely bothered to dress with a plan to draw attention; Danny knew she was moderately attractive, and she was a little vain about her blonde hair. It was the only thing she maintained with regularity, sort of short on the sides with a tossed back top, vaguely androgynous a la Ruby Rose, which basically summed up everything Danny was going for. 

Unlike Steve, she didn't like to use her looks to either intimidate or beguile. It wasn’t necessarily premeditated on his part, but it was a little hard to escape the impact of Steve McGarrett just walking into a room.

So today she was parked in front of her mirror, holding a white linen button down with three-quarter sleeves in one hand, and a v-neck blue tee shirt in the other, feeling like a complete ass. 

"Wear the blue one," Grace suggested from the doorway, "Uncle Steve likes blue." 

"Wha--wait, how do you know that?" Danny pivoted to give her daughter an incredulous look, but the little monkey had already scampered away.

Danny was so screwed. She threw the blue shirt to the floor of the closet in frustration and put on the white one over a tank top instead. Her only concession to comfort was a pair of worn blue jeans and sandals. 

At least in this outfit she could not be coaxed into the water. 

She ran her fingers through her hair and refused to put on lip gloss. She would not act like a brainless twit just because Steve was single now. Nothing else had changed. 

~~~~ 

When she arrived at Steve’s house that afternoon with Grace, Danny was feeling the shaky effects of the previous night’s conversation. She now thought that not only was it a bad idea to come over today, but that it was actually the worst idea in her history of bad ideas. Yet here she was, watching her daughter throw her arms around Steve’s waist, yelling, “Uncle Steve!” in that exuberant way that she did everything, that Danny loved so much about her.

“Hey Gracie,” Steve replied, running his hand lightly over her French braided head. “You ready to swim?”

Grace squealed and took off for the bathroom to change into her suit. Danny shook her head and grinned. “I don’t think I ever had as much energy as she does, honestly.”

“Oh I’m sure you did, I doubt she got that from Stan,” Steve replied, leading the way into the kitchen to offer Danny a beer.

After last night, Danny used her common sense and went for iced tea instead. “You’re right,” she said after a minute, “Stan is more the composed, rational type.”

Steve squinted at her. “I would say you’re pretty rational yourself.”

“Everyone is rational compared to you,” she tossed back as she followed the running streak of pink that was Grace out onto the lanai. “Stop, Monkey!”

Grace halted fast enough to kick up sand, and turned to face her mother. “Wait for Uncle Steve before getting in the water, do not swim farther away than Uncle Steve can easily reach, and always obey Uncle Steve’s orders,” she parroted, looking impatiently up at the sky like she wanted to roll her eyes but didn’t dare.

“Exactly. And have fun.”

Steve came up beside her, stripping off his shirt as he passed and tossing it to Danny. “She’s a great swimmer, you know. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Danny tried to look away from his rippling muscles, she really did, and her fingers clenched in his tee shirt. “There are so very many things to worry about, you have no idea.”

But Steve was already gone, wading out into the gentle surf with Grace and encouraging her to launch herself into the waves like a little dolphin. Danny’s heart was beating funny in her chest, and she went to sit down in one of the deck chairs on the edge of the lanai. She made herself shake out Steve’s shirt and drape it over the other chair.

Her iced tea was refreshing and the shade was pleasant, and she wanted to close her eyes and doze but couldn’t take her eyes off Grace. Danny knew she was overly protective, she skated that fine line between watchful and helicopter mom on her best days, but her whole world was that little girl.

The sun was so bright off the water that Danny wished she had brought her sunglasses out from the car. She shaded her eyes and watched Steve standing in the surf, laughing as Grace jumped around him like some kind of stunningly hot pink fish. 

"Yo, Danny!" Steve called, waving. "C'mere." 

Danny sighed and kicked off her shoes, padding across the hot sand toward her two favorite people. "You okay, Monkey?" 

"Come in, Danno!" Grace yelled. "It's really fun." 

"Yeah Danno, come in," Steve said with a shark’s grin that was all teeth. “The water’s fine.”

Danny shook her head at him, fighting a smile. “I don’t have my suit, sorry Monkey.”

“You forgot it on purpose, didn’t you?” Steve challenged as he braced himself for a wave that hit his thighs, and ran a hand over his short wet hair. He looked like he was posing for a centerfold, and Danny wanted to roll her eyes, but also to ask him to hold that pose for a bit longer.

“Yes I did, I did do that, because this,” Danny gestured at him, the water, and the world in general, “is not my idea of a good time.”

“I know you can swim,” Steve challenged.

“Of course I can swim, you think I got this old without learning to swim? I swim in safe, chlorinated swimming pools, Steven.”

“Mommy, just get your feet wet!”

Danny scrubbed a hand over her face. “Okay, but just my feet.” She leaned down and rolled up the cuffs of her jeans to her calves, determined to get just inside the edge of the waves and plant her feet like they had roots.

“Yay! You can help me look for shells,” Grace exclaimed, coming out of the water towards her.

The water was bracingly cool, and she wouldn’t admit it but the sweep of the water and the froth it left behind on her feet felt amazing. She crouched down to snag a shell for Grace, and the sparkle of the water was dazzling. That was probably why she didn’t notice Steve coming just a bit closer.

“Danny,” he said, and when she looked up he smacked a wave in her direction, soaking her from neck to knees.

Danny sucked in a shocked, horrified gasp. “You, you absolute bas--”

“Uh uh, Monkey ears,” he warned, pointing at Grace, who was giggling.

“Steven,” she tried again, “how dare you. You’re such an animal.” She took stock of her linen shirt, now totally soaked and stuck to her tank top underneath. Seeing that it was a lost cause, she unbuttoned and peeled it off, tossing it back onto the dry sand.

Steve’s eyes were electric. “Why you still insist on shirts with buttons, I will never know.”

“I’ve completely given up on trying to explain it to you, so I guess we’re at an impasse.” Danny took advantage of his distraction as he glanced over to Grace and her growing pile of shells. A well timed kick at a wave sent water straight into Steve’s face.

“Nice,” Steve said, nodding and wiping water from his eyes. “But you know how I am about escalation.”

The grin froze on Danny’s face as Steve suddenly rushed her, his freakishly long legs eating up the distance between them in two strides. Before she could command her limbs to move, Steve had tossed her over his shoulder fireman-carry and ran straight into the surf, where he flung her.

Water closed over her head and self-preservation kicked in, miraculously keeping her from choking on saltwater. She found the sand under her feet and felt Steve’s hands steadying her, and she broke through the surface gasping and flailing.

“I can’t believe--you just--McGarrett you asshole!” she hissed at him while Grace shrieked and jittered up and down with glee.

“Language!” Steve looked so, so proud of himself, but his hands were steady on her arms as she found her balance in the waist high waves.

Danny glared and let go to sweep her dripping hair back off her face, and a wave sent her crashing into Steve’s chest. Her whole world shrank to the feeling of her cheek against his skin, his hands grasping at her hips.

She pushed off of him with a muttered apology, still trying to catch her breath. His face was so close when she looked up, and she couldn’t read the expression in his eyes.

“Jeans, McGarrett, jeans in the ocean, and you are so, so dead later. I will get you when you least expect it. I will get you so far from now that you’ve forgotten, and you won’t know how I’ll get you, but believe me. I will.”

His grin was blinding. “Well now that you’re out here, swim with me.”

Danny gritted her teeth and braced herself for laughter. “I can only swim in still water. I can’t handle the ocean.”

Steve didn’t laugh though, he just took her hands and held on. “Then we won’t swim. Just stay here a minute.”

“Uncle Steve will keep you safe, Danno!” Grace called from dry land.

“Thanks, Monkey!” Danny hated this so much, but she was already out there, and Steve’s hands were strong in hers.

“I will, you know,” Steve promised, backing up slowly into the deeper water and drawing her with him.

Danny made a valiant effort to push down her fears as the next wave lifted her off her feet, and her hands were gripping Steve’s so hard it must have hurt him. He just kept his eyes locked on hers, and she couldn’t look away.

“See? Not so bad,” he said coaxingly, and Danny treaded water as best she could. Her breath was coming too quick, and she felt an insidious urge to cry even as she realized that the water was lifting her rather than pulling her down. 

“Like a walk in the park,” she said between clenched and chattering teeth. She could wade into a firefight without fear and take out the targets without blinking, but put her in the ocean and she fell apart.

He frowned. “What are you so afraid of?”

“Drowning.” She moved closer to him instinctively, fighting panic, shifting her grip to his forearms.

For what felt like a long time, he said nothing, but he moved closer, until she could feel the same rhythm of the water lifting both of them. “Did you lose someone?”

She nodded jerkily.

“Okay,” he replied, and pulled her into him. She moved her grip to his shoulders and he lifted her by her waist just a little, until she felt safer, a raft tied to a dock. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pushed.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t know.”

“Do you want to get out?”

Danny looked at Steve, close enough to kiss, water sparkling off his eyelashes. Over his shoulder the ocean yawned wide. Adrenaline was a funny thing. “Yes, but no,” she answered, going for honesty. He was looking at her mouth, and that was pretty unmistakable, as those things went.

“I think you live most of your life like that, Danno,” he said softly.

“Only when it comes to you,” she replied, and his blue eyes turned thoughtful.

“You okay, Mommy?” Grace called, and Danny startled, glancing over her shoulder at her daughter who stood there uncertainly, her hands full of shells.

"Yeah sweetheart, I'm fine. Uncle Steve was trying to teach me how to swim in the ocean is all." Danny pushed away from Steve with shaky arms, and he let her go. She was ungainly in the water but she made it to shore under her own power, shaking off saltwater like a wet cat as she headed for the house. "Ugh. Consequences, McGarrett. There will be consequences." 

"I look forward to it," Steve called behind her, a challenge. 

~~~~

Grace used the guest bathroom to change so Danny used Steve's shower to wash off the ocean. She felt awkward using his bathroom but he insisted, and when she got out there was a pair of shorts with a drawstring and a tee shirt that said 'Navy' on the front waiting for her on the edge of his bed. 

Even with the drawstring the shorts were too big, but the shirt was old and thin and comfortable. Her bra was in the washing machine with the rest of her clothes, and she hadn't realized her error until it was too late. She stared at her nipples through the shirt and cursed those two traitors, heaving a sigh. 

Thank god Grace was here, an ironclad chaperone protecting her against bad ideas. 

Steve seemed to lose his train of thought when Danny came downstairs, trailing off mid sentence. He stared at her, fixated.

"Did you get sand in your brain? Where are those burgers anyway, I'm sure Grace is starving," Danny said as she breezed past Steve on the way to the kitchen. 

"I'm starving, Uncle Steve!" Grace called from the dining room, where she was busily coloring in her zentangle ocean creatures book that Kono had given her. 

"Okay, help me with this," he said to Danny, pointing at a tray of raw burgers and another of buns and condiments. 

They were both quiet for a bit while Steve grilled. Danny leaned her hip on the patio dining table and crossed her arms over her chest. Steve's gaze kept darting toward her and then away. 

"What." It wasn't a question so much as a demand. 

"Who did you lose?" 

Danny sighed ran a hand through her wet hair. "Childhood friend. Riptide. Please don't ask for details." 

"I won't. I'm sorry." 

Danny shook her head. "Not your fault." 

"I know, I'm still sorry." Steve's eyes met hers and they were full of warmth and understanding. 

Danny smiled. Moments like this did not help her resolve. 

"Someday I'll get you out there with me again," he said, nodding toward the waves, "and you won't be afraid." 

He reached out to push a lock of her hair off her forehead, and ran his fingers back through just the lightest edge of the strands, and Danny shivered, eyes wide. 

"Danny," Steve said, and Danny blinked, wanting his hand to stay there longer, wanting it to touch her with obvious intent. This subtle, unspoken thing they had discovered was frying her nerves. 

"I'm glad you came over. With Grace, I mean. This house gets so quiet." Steve's voice was quiet too, and his eyes were saying something else that Danny couldn't read. He pulled back his hand as though he'd forgotten what he was doing. 

The sound of Grace singing a Disney song inside the house carried on the breeze to them, and Danny gave a shaky laugh. "She likes it here more than my shitty apartment, I'm sure." 

"Well. You guys are welcome any time, seriously. Whenever you want to escape your shitty apartment," Steve said as he stepped back to flip the burgers. 

Danny felt kind of confused and bereft, like maybe they'd been having a moment of some kind and it was over now. She wandered over to the lounge chairs and sat down, watching the waves for a while. She felt Steve staring again and she looked over. 

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she called, crossing her arms and legs in irritation. Whatever was on Steve's mind today, she wished he would just say it. 

He was staring at her bare legs, entranced. After a minute extremely charged with tension, Steve raised his eyes to her face. "I'm ready. I mean, it's ready. Dinner." 

Danny wasn't sure if she wanted to kiss him or smack him on the head, though she definitely wanted to smack herself. Ridiculous, they were both just ridiculous. 

~~~~

On Monday, Danny got shot. 

The not terribly successful drug ring had some surprisingly successful goons with guns, and Five-O was cornered outside a pastry shop by three well placed shooters. 

It wasn't even Steve's fault this time, Danny thought as she lay on the asphalt clutching her right arm, feeling incongruously calm. Blood seeped fast through her fingers, but it barely hurt at all. The sun was very annoying, and all she could see was a bright white sky until Steve's face hovered above her, casting a shadow of cool air. 

"Hey, Steve," she said, letting go of her arm and grabbing him by the shoulder. Red smeared all over his gray shirt. "Just a scratch." 

"Big scratch. Kono, ambulance. Chin, check the shooters." 

"Guess that means we got 'em? Hooray," Danny said, and the ground felt wobbly beneath her even though she was on her back. Steve was stripping off his leather belt, wrapping it around her bicep and yanking tight, and Danny yelled at the sudden throbbing pain in her arm. 

Steve's hands were smoothing over her hair and her cheeks, and she could feel other hands pressing on her arm. There was sticky blood everywhere. 

"Hey Danno, you with me?" Steve sounded shaken, his voice tight. "Look at me." 

She swallowed hard and tried to find Steve's hand. "Yeah, babe, I'm with you." 

"That's good, that's really good, just keep your eyes open for me." 

"Bring me my sunglasses and I will," she replied, feeling woozy but awake. The sun was still intermittently sharp in her eyes. 

She heard Kono laugh somewhere off to her left, but Steve didn't crack a smile. "How about I just stay right here," he offered, leaning above her face and effectively blocking the sun. 

"That works. Hey you got hit too? There's red all over you." 

"I'm fine, this is all you, babe," Steve said, shaking his head.

"Oops. Hey what time is it? I've gotta get Gracie." 

"Got it covered," Kono answered. "No worries there, sistah. Ambulance is here." 

"You called me 'babe,'" Danny accused Steve, who finally cracked a smile. 

"You did it first," he shot back. His face was really close to hers, his gaze steady. He kept running his fingers through her hair.

"Did not. You gonna kiss me or what?" 

Steve blinked. "Well, not right now…" 

"That's not a no," she said with a lopsided grin, and Steve laughed. 

Then the paramedics were pushing Steve out of the way and taking over, and Danny just sort of slid away into a half awake brightness for a while. 

~~~~ 

As it turned out, the bullet had not in fact nicked an artery as they had feared, but it had torn up quite a bit of soft tissue and bled like crazy anyway. 

Danny woke up with a bandaged right bicep and Steve at her side, holding her free hand and watching her with tired eyes. 

She looked down at their joined hands in surprise. "Are we going steady now?” 

"Scared the shit out of me, Danno," he whispered, and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles as though it was something he did all the time. 

Danny raised an eyebrow. "I got shot in the arm, Steven. I was never at death's door." 

"Yeah well, you didn't see how much blood you lost, how pale you were. It looked much, much worse. You went into shock." 

"Please, I just skipped breakfast and doubled up on coffee, is all." 

His look was eloquently unamused. 

Danny raked a hand through her dirty hair. "Ugh. Where's Grace?" 

"She'll be by later with Kono. I think they're getting ice cream right now." 

Danny sighed. "Was she worried?" 

"Nah, we didn't let her," Steve said, finally smiling. "She wasn't as worried as me, anyway." 

"Listen to me, I'm fine. My arm hurts like a bitch, but I'm fine. I'll be back to work tomorrow, with another scar to add to my collection. Where is all this coming from? I've been shot before," she reminded him. 

"Yes, but not since I--" Steve stopped abruptly, then tried again. “This one scared me. Before I got to you, I thought you were gone. You were so still.”

“Well now you know better, and soon enough I’ll be verbally skewering you over some crazy thing you’ve done, and you’ll be longing for this gentle moment, brought to you by some hardcore pain killers.”

“You asked me to kiss you,” Steve said, his eyes sparkling, and he was still holding her damn hand in his.

“I was clearly at death’s door after all,” Danny said dryly. 

It turned out to be the exact wrong thing to say, because the sparkle left Steve’s eyes and he withdrew his hand. “Don’t worry, I didn’t.”

Danny frowned at Steve, confused and blaming the meds for making her dull. “I would have remembered if you had. I’d like to think so anyway.”

But the moment was gone, and Steve stood up, texting on his phone. “I’ll let Kono know she can bring Grace by. They want to keep you here overnight, so Stan wants to bring Grace back with him for the rest of the week while you recover.”

“Oh no, he will fucking not! I can still take care of my own daughter just fine. I don’t need to be here overnight,” Danny gritted out, pushing back the sheets and trying to maneuver out of bed using only one arm. She hissed in pain as soon as she put weight on her right arm, and fell back into the bed.

“Yeah, first let’s get to where you can take care of yourself, Danno. It’s not the worst idea in the world to let her stay with Stan. Maybe he’ll swap you a weekend.”

Danny just kicked at her bedsheets in anger, feeling like a petulant child. Tears burned behind her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “I hate this. I hate everything.” 

Steve sat beside her on the edge of the bed. “Hey, I don’t mind if you’re angry. You can be angry at me if it makes you feel better.”

“Why would that make me feel better? It’s not even your fault I got shot this time.”

“I figure you spend so much time berating me for things, clearly you enjoy it. Maybe you could try it now.”

Danny scoffed. “Berate you, honestly. I point out your delinquent behavior and questionable decision making processes. You’re making me out to be a harpy or a--a fishwife, or something.”

Steve finally gifted her with a dazzling grin. “There you are, keep it coming.”

“And why you think you can anticipate my needs is beyond me. You’re clearly unable to anticipate your own.”

“I know exactly what I need, thank you very much.”

“Yes but do you go out and get it? No, you do not. You have no plan. You just fly by the seat of your pants and sometimes crash land into happiness, am I right?” It had occurred to Danny that she was dancing around the enigma that was their relationship, and she couldn’t tell if he recognized it.

“I always manage to get where I’m going in the end. Sometimes I get there faster with explosives.”

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but explosives won’t solve every problem.”

Steve hummed and looked contemplative. “I would argue that if explosives can’t solve a problem, then it wasn’t really a problem to begin with.”

“Thank you, walking fortune cookie. I have now gained so much insight into your psyche, you have no idea.”

“You feel better yet?” Steve looked so smug, it was ridiculous.

“Yes, yes I do. You’re right, that pointing out your flaws does make me feel better. You’re so supernaturally gifted in every way that it is good to remind myself that you are actually a human too.”

“Thank you, I guess.” Steve’s eyes were back to sparkling again, and it was extremely distracting.

~~~~

Grace’s visit was definitely the highlight of her day, and it really said a lot about Steve’s state of mind that Grace didn’t seem very worried at all. Arms just weren’t scary things to have injured, in the mind of a child. Grace did go home to Stan after all, but Danny grudgingly admitted that it was for the best, no matter how much she hated it.

Danny had to spend the night for observation, which she bitched about loud and long to anyone who would hear it. Despite how much it hurt, it was just an arm, she reasoned, and if her kid wasn’t worried, then neither should anyone else be.

Early the next morning Danny was preparing her speeches for presenting her case for getting some discharge papers at some point in the near future, when Steve came in all fresh faced with two cups of coffee, a tote bag, and a grin.

“Good news, I’ve sprung you. They’re bringing by the papers in a few minutes. I guess they couldn’t wait to get this bed available for ‘anyone’ else, I believe was the word.”

“I knew my campaign would work eventually.” Danny sighed with relief, and accepted the coffee. It was black and strong and perfect, just one sugar the way she liked it.

“However,” Steve continued, and Danny’s stomach sank a little, “they would only release you into my care, so you’re coming home with me. Kono already gathered up some stuff from your apartment and left it at the house.”

Danny’s mouth hung open for a few seconds, and then she snapped it shut like a trap. “Absolutely not.”

“Absolutely yes. You’re going to be in a sling for a week, and you’ll need help whether you like it or not.”

“I am not an invalid, I can take care of myself. This is ridiculous.”

“Look,” Steve said, staring at the floor. “I know you hate asking for help, and you’re shit at receiving it, but at least indulge me for a couple days. You’ll be in and out with the meds they’re giving you, and I don’t want you to be alone.”

Danny looked out the window for a while, watching birds fly past. “Okay fine. But don’t cut my meat for me. And don’t follow me into the bathroom. Some things a girl just has to do for herself.”

Steve grinned so big Danny’s heart stuttered. “Deal. Come on, put your clothes on and let’s get out of here.” He handed her the tote bag and shooed her toward the bathroom.

It took her longer than she liked to get her loose tee shirt over her head with only one working arm, but she did it, and her yoga pants too. Kono had included some flip flops, so she slipped those on and looked at her pale face in the mirror. “Don’t. Be. An idiot,” she lectured herself, feeling cranky and also like she wanted to put her hand back into Steve’s and have him distract her from the pain.

She didn’t think he would mind, but she stopped herself anyway.

~~~~

As soon as she entered Steve’s house she knew it had been a good idea, though she wouldn’t say so to him. She was immediately soothed with a feeling of stillness and peace, and she realized suddenly that after all the home renovations she’d helped him with, she knew his house inside and out better than any other she’d lived in.

It felt like home.

As much as that scared her, she also felt safe there, like she could just take her meds and not worry about how drowsy they made her because Steve would keep watch. She had no responsibilities except to heal herself.

A thought occurred to her suddenly, and she spun in the living room to face Steve, who looked startled. “What about the case? Don’t you have to go in?”

“Chin and Kono are on it. It’s pretty open and shut at the moment, we know all the players so it’s just a matter of bringing them in.” He herded Danny over to the couch but she refused to sit.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You never let go of a case so easily, you’re an inveterate control freak.”

Steve rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, the more important case is here.”

“I’m not a case, Steven. I have a wounded arm.”

“Yeah, but my priority is getting you well so that you can get Gracie back.”

Danny’s heart absolutely turned over.

He cleared his throat. “And to get my partner back at my side soon as possible,” he continued briskly.

She cocked her head. “I’m at your side right now, you goof.” A quick jab to his ribs with one finger made him wince.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” she agreed. She could see he was having a feeling. It was possible that she could guess what the feeling was, but until he was ready to acknowledge it, she wouldn’t either.

“Sit,” he ordered. “I’ll bring you water for your meds.”

Danny sat. Steve brought her water and she swallowed her pills without complaint. Her arm was aching, and she accepted Steve’s offer of a pillow and a blanket. When he started to walk away, she said, “Steve,” before she could tell herself not to, and grabbed his hand.

He gave her a look that warmed her from head to toe, pulled up the armchair beside the couch, and held her hand until she fell asleep.

~~~~

For lunch Steve made sandwiches, easy enough to eat with her left arm. Already Danny was finding it difficult to to things with her left, since her dominant right was strapped tight to her body. She had taken for granted all the things that had been easy before, ridiculous things like going to the bathroom or opening a pill bottle. Steve helped her with the latter but obviously not the former, because she still had her dignity.

Pain was exhausting, and she spent most of the day dozing in between conversations with Steve, who sat at the opposite end of the couch with her feet in his lap. At first he just rested his hand on her ankle, but eventually he began to rub her feet so gently that she didn’t even notice at first.

Danny drifted between telling him stories about Grace and just letting him distract her with his warm touch. Her dreams were hazy things that tickled her insides, made her clench and squirm in her sleep.

And Steve just sat there through it all.

Danny felt the two of them slipping down the rabbit hole, and she knew they couldn’t come back to where they’d started. For better or worse, there was an inevitable collision coming.

After dinner Danny decided she needed to wash off the feeling of residual blood and the lingering scent of hospital disinfectant. Steve covered her arm in plastic wrap and escorted her to his bathroom.

“Do you need help with…” he gestured at her clothes. “If you want.”

“Um, no. Thanks,” Danny said, embarrassed by how her voice wobbled. She just wasn’t quite ready for what was coming.

“Okay,” Steve replied, backing out the door. “I’ll just be out here if you need anything.”

He closed the door and Danny let out the breath she’d been holding. She stripped off her clothes awkwardly and attempted a shower while holding her arm out of the spray. The only soap in there was the same she recognized on Steve, a clean scent with maybe just a hint of sandalwood. Washing with it felt too intimate. She thought of him on the other side of the door, waiting, and she yanked her hand away from her body, flustered.

When she finished the shower she pulled back the curtain and saw that Steve had put her tote bag by the tub where she would see it. She would swear on a stack of bibles that it hadn’t been there when she got in.

Kono had been helpful enough to include the most comfortable clothing Danny owned, nothing but items she could put on one handed, so Danny picked out just a tee shirt and soft shorts. She had to make an exception for her bra, which would have been too difficult to maneuver and clasp with one hand, and she refused to ask Steve for help with it. She knew that if she did, that bra would never make it on in the first place, and she felt too jittery to give in to what she was feeling in a bathroom of all places.

“Thanks,” Danny said when she came out, finding Steve sitting on the edge of his bed, his elbows braced on his thighs, “for everything. Just...thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he replied, looking up at her with both patience and heat in his eyes.

They were light years away from just partners now.

It was a beautiful night, warm with a light breeze that carried the scent of plumerias. Danny wanted to sit outside so they each took a chair and watched the last light of day disappear over the ocean’s horizon.

“I do think of this as home now,” Danny said, without preamble. “I just wanted you to know.”

“Hawaii, or right here?”

“Yes,” she answered simply.

Steve was quiet for a minute, and they listened to the waves rolling gently. “I’m glad.”

Danny’s arm ached, and she realized she had missed the time to take another pill, but she was reluctant to move. “Hey, would you mind--”

Steve pulled the bottle from his pocket, opened it and handed it to her. She stared at him for a long time before taking a pill and swallowing it dry.

“How’s the pain?” Steve asked, taking the bottle back and tucking it away again.

“Tolerable, but my neck is starting to twinge too.”

“Probably the muscles are just overcompensating.” Steve got out of his chair and crouched beside hers, taking her neck gently in his big hands and rolling the tension out.

It felt so good that Danny couldn't bring herself to stop him. His fingers were warm and nimble, finding all the knots in her muscles and teasing them out slowly. Her head felt too heavy for her neck and she leaned into his touch. Steve paused for just a moment, and then she felt him tracing a line up the nape of her neck to her hairline, sending shivers down her spine. Such a simple touch, but her nipples tightened and she clenched her legs closed on a rush of heat. 

Danny sucked in a shuddering breath and reached up to grab his hand. She was seconds from giving herself away with a moan, and desperate to either stop him or pull him crashing into her like a wave.

Then his mouth was on her neck, tasting below her ear and the edge of her jaw, then her mouth, and then he was shifting around in front of her, between her knees, and she was opening for him. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her to the edge of the chair, and she kissed him fiercely, grabbing his shoulder, sliding up to his hair, holding him there.

“Why didn’t we do this sooner?” he asked, kissing her again, licking her mouth open, destroying any lingering resolve.

“This is a terrible idea, the worst,” she muttered between kisses, closing her knees around his ribs and feeling a sharp satisfaction when he groaned and slipped his hands under her bare thighs, edging under her shorts. It had been so long since she’d felt anything close to this, and she was starved for it.

“It’ll be okay,” Steve assured her, scraping his teeth on her collarbone. “We'll figure it out.”

“No explosives,” she gasped, digging her nails into the back of his neck.

“No promises,” Steve replied with a grin, lifting her and pulling her down into his lap right there on the edge of the grass, and Danny knew they weren’t going to make it to a bed, and she absolutely did not care.

She rocked against his hardness and he pressed her tight, hissing at the friction. “I need you,” she whispered against his mouth. “I’ve needed you for so long. We’re so stupid.”

He wrapped her as tight as he could in his arms, and she could tell he was trying to let her bandaged arm rest gently between them.

“Is this okay?” he asked, looking at her sling and the fingers of her right hand that were clenched uselessly.

“This is so very not okay, Steve, but don’t stop now.” She tugged at his shirt and he stripped it over his head, and then all of his skin was just there, waiting for her hand and mouth to explore. Danny licked a long stripe up the center of his chest, tasting salt and heat, and there was one bucket list item checked off. 

The fly of his jeans was impossible to navigate with one hand and she growled a little until Steve took over, popping it open and pulling himself out, stiff and gorgeous as he thrust into her hand. He ran his fingers through Danny’s hair and let her explore, his breath uneven.

She stood up to shimmy out of her shorts and Steve’s mouth immediately found her navel, then the delicate skin below it, so gently until she shivered, then moved down to lick straight up into the center of her, holding tight to her legs so she didn’t collapse. His tongue knew exactly where to go, his lips sucking at her until she cried out and pushed him away.

“I don’t have anything here,” Steve said, reluctant.

“I’m on the pill,” Danny replied, distracted.

“I’m clean.”

“Me too.”

Danny knelt over his lap and he leaned backward on his hands. “Hold still,” she ordered, and sank down on him slowly, flexing around him as she adjusted to his size. 

She was so slick that it was easy as breathing, and she vibrated with sensation as she rose up and down. He let her set the pace, and his gaze on hers was sizzling when he sat up and slid his hand under her shirt and up to lift her left breast in his hand, rubbing his thumb over her nipple.

“Danny, babe, come with me,” he breathed, his mouth on her cheek while she shuddered, and he finally lifted his hips and thrust into her when she came down, and she was crying out and gripping his shoulder tight for leverage. He kissed her, his tongue slipping against hers, and he teased her nipple until she clenched around him in waves, pulling her mouth away to press her forehead to his shoulder, riding out the feeling as he kept thrusting, pulling out and finishing quietly on her stomach, panting.

In the minutes afterward Danny ran an emotional gauntlet, the satisfaction of a long slow descent and inevitable crash, the shock at what they had done without thinking of the consequences, and a warm, bright knowledge that this felt more right than it did wrong, but no less terrifying because of it.

Danny never would have assumed Steve was the sentimental type, but he sat there and kissed her for long minutes, resting against her, soft and hot. Despite her inner turmoil she kissed him back, because there was honestly nothing she would rather be doing at that moment.

She slowly became aware that she was starting to drift with the sound of the waves, her muscles relaxing and her mind quieting, and she remembered the medication she had taken before all this started. “Steve,” she said after she pulled back, “I should lie down.”

"Right, here let me," he said, rousing like a sleepwalker. He eased her off of him gently, lifting her up to the edge of the chair and using his shirt to clean them both. 

When Steve got to his feet it looked like he might be about to scoop her up in his arms, so Danny flung out her hand. 

"Oh hell no, no way will I be carried as long as I have legs to walk. I'm not now nor will I ever be that kind of girl, so don't get any delusions of chivalry."

Steve's lips twitched but he didn't protest, though he did lean over to steal a kiss. Danny allowed it, and gave him a sleepy, appreciative grin. 

She stood up on admittedly wobbly legs and made her way back to the house in just a tee shirt and a sling, while Steve trailed behind with the leftover clothing. On the stairs up to his room he ran an exploratory hand over her ass and she had to clutch the railing extra hard as a shiver destroyed what little balance she had left.

“Really? Now?” she asked over her shoulder.

“Yeah, exactly now,” he replied, doing it again.

Danny went into the bathroom and cleaned herself up, then let him come in and do the same. She felt awkward and drowsy, and Steve was very quiet. What he was thinking she couldn't even guess, but his expression was calm. 

She sank down on the edge of his bed gratefully and watched as he came out of the bathroom with supplies. 

“I need to change that dressing before you go to sleep, babe.” Steve knelt in front of her and helped her remove the sling. His hands were gentle as he unwrapped her bandage and washed her wound with saline and gauze. 

"I could do that myself, you know," Danny said, watching his face. 

"Shut up and let me help." 

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine." 

He wrapped her arm again and offered her the sling, and she shook her head. All she could think of was sleep, and she didn't need the sling for that. 

Steve kept looking at her though, so she waited. He took her arm and pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist, then the bend of her elbow, and she felt the flicker of his tongue there, quick and soft. It sent little shivers down her spine as he continued up her arm and past the bandage, moving to settle his mouth on her collarbone. 

Danny tried to calm her breathing, slipping her hand up to cradle his head, feeling the soft strands between her fingers, and anchored his mouth there. 

"Can I kiss you?" Steve's words were hushed and tentative against her skin. 

"Are you kidding me right now? Are we doing this thing in reverse?" Danny pulled his head up and leaned down to get to his mouth. His tongue teased hers in a kiss that was more familiar than seductive, more like something they'd been doing for years. She had the sense that he was trying to reassure her, to convince her of something. 

When she pulled away, he tried to chase her mouth, but she dropped her forehead to his and willed her head to stop spinning. She was growing sleepy, and her bones felt loose in her joints. She wanted to just curl up right there at the foot of the bed, and let Steve catch her. 

"Okay, let's get you up here.”

Steve guided her up into bed, and she collapsed onto a pillow that smelled of him. She turned her face into it and breathed deeply. He drew the covers up over her and she caught his hand.

“Stay,” she said, and she meant it as an order but it came out as a question.

“Yeah, lemme just lock up first,” he said quietly, squeezing her hand. “Don’t wait up.”

She huffed a laugh and mumbled, “I’ll leave a light on,” and then she was asleep.

~~~~

Danny woke with pain in the wee hours of the night. She turned her head and saw the glow of a digital clock on the nightstand, reading military time. She was most definitely not in her own bedroom. She turned her head the other way and froze. 

There was barely enough ambient light from the sliver of moon to illuminate Steve’s face, inches from hers on the next pillow, and her heart gave several hard thumps before she remembered where she was and why. Her breath came hissing in all at once, and her hand came up to touch her bandaged arm. 

Steve’s eyes opened and he was alert in about two seconds, and there was no confusion in his expression as there surely was in hers. He didn’t move a muscle, but Danny could tell he’d already assessed the room for threats anyway.

“Hey,” Danny said, still trying to get her brain on board. A quick check told her that aside from her t-shirt she was naked under the blankets. 

“Hey,” Steve replied, and he sounded wary. “You okay?”

She nodded, then shook her head a little. “Arm hurts.”

Steve looked reflexively over at the night table where the bottle of medication sat waiting. “You want another pill?”

“No, it’s not that bad. I’d rather be in pain and awake.” She tried gently stretching her arm and grimaced at the burn. Steve caught her hand and guided her arm down to her side again. 

“Is this you being a martyr?”

“This is me wanting to have a conversation with you when my brain actually works.” 

Steve looked hunted, but he pursed his mouth and nodded.

Danny scrubbed a hand over her face. “Okay before we go any further, was it just me or did we have sex last night?”

Steve’s eyebrows went up. “No, I was definitely involved, it wasn’t just you.”

“Jesus, you know what I meant.”

“I mean, if you want to have sex by yourself I don’t mind, I’ll definitely watch though.”

She snorted and shook her head. “You’re a funny guy, McGarrett.”

“That’s not a no,” he said, and his eyes were crinkling up as he grinned. His teeth were stupidly white and straight, and his chest was a wide expanse of warm skin beside her, and Danny really wanted to kiss him. She didn’t though, because even though it was three thirty in the morning there were some things that had to be said first.

“How are we feeling about last night?” she asked, and was completely unsurprised when he reached up to rub the back of his neck as he rolled away and took a deep breath. 

“Danny…”

She watched him for a minute, waiting for him to continue, then she heaved a sigh. “You know, if you regret it just tell me. It’s okay to have a feeling, and to tell me the truth. I’m a big girl.”

He turned his head to look at her, and in the dim light from the window his eyes were very dark. “I just wanted it to happen a different way. I imagined something more…”

“If you say romantic I’m going to punch you.”

He grinned sheepishly. “I would never,” he promised, in such a way that Danny knew he absolutely was lying.

“Trust me, if I had a problem with frantic, earth-shattering, backyard sex, I would tell you. As it is, I wouldn’t say no to doing it again.”

Steve looked uncertain. “You mean the backyard thing or sex in general?”

“Yes,” Danny replied calmly, and kissed him.

“Okay,” Steve said, when she pulled back to take a breath.

“Just ‘okay?’ I’m overwhelmed by your enthusiasm.”

“Okay,” he repeated, threading his fingers through her hair and holding her still while he returned the kiss. His tongue was slick against hers, his stubble rough on her skin just the way she liked. He started to move over her and she pushed him off, rolling him to his back and climbing on, pinning him down.

“You’re bossy,” Steve said breathlessly, letting her kiss down his throat and collarbone as she chased the heat of his skin and the sleep-warm scent of him.

“You love bossy,” Danny shot back, biting his chest.

“I do love bossy,” he agreed, shifting up between her thighs, rocking in tiny increments that stole her breath.

All that stood between her and Steve’s cock were his boxer briefs. She stilled her hips and settled downwards, increasing pressure until Steve grunted like he’d been punched.

“Fuck, Danny,” Steve groaned, clamping his palm on her ass and holding her there until she started panting, straining to move, clenching involuntarily against him while he watched her with intensely dark eyes.

When he released her she sagged forward, sliding inelegantly against his cock and trying to regain her control. Thoughtlessly she brought her right hand down to brace against his chest, and then fire was shooting up her arm and she cried out, pulling back, and Steve’s hands were there on her shoulders to keep her from toppling.

“Son of a bitch,” Danny whispered, breathing hard as the pain receded slowly.

Steve tucked her hair back from her face. “Hey, maybe we should--”

“If you say ‘wait’ I will kill you, McGarrett, so help me God.”

“Maybe we should try it a different way, was what I was going to say.” He maneuvered Danny onto her back again, which was not her favorite place to be, but she told herself that in situations like this beggars couldn’t be choosers. Steve started to pull up her t-shirt and then looked doubtfully at her right arm, held carefully at her side. 

Steve looked her over and asked, “How much do you love this shirt?”

“Not so much, why?” she asked warily.

Steve grabbed the hem, tore it with his teeth, then ripped it up the middle without so much as a warning, and Danny gasped, “Jesus Christ, you caveman,” and tried not to come without having been touched. The last thing Steve needed was the ego boost of knowing what that particular move had done for her, or the indignity on her part of having to acknowledge it.

“Just being efficient,” Steve said, winking as he leaned down to swipe his tongue over her nipple and drag his fingers down her side.

“Ngh,” Danny replied, arching up to meet him, her brain buzzing. 

“Like that?” he asked, stroking hard down her ribs to her waist again and grinning while she groaned.

“What kind of a question is that, do I like that?” Danny tried so hard to sound irritated, but it came out all breathless and begging. She slid her fingers into his hair and tugged downward, hoping to give him a hint, but he was already heading that direction on his own.

“Tell me if you like this too,” he said as he kissed down her belly, pulled one thigh over his shoulder, and licked all the way into her already wet center.

The noise she made was completely embarrassing, but Steve didn’t seem to mind. Danny tried to remember the last time anyone had gone down on her, much less had done it this well, but her mind was a complete blank. All she could focus on was his tongue, his lips, his mouth sucking rhythmically on her clit while his fingers gently speared her, searching for the best angle for his fingers.

When he found it, she cried out, her hips jerking up and her legs seeking purchase on the sheets and his sweat-slick shoulder. She came all at once in a rush, grinding down around his fingers, clutching his hair like a lifeline in a way that had to be painful.

“Sorry, sorry,” she gasped, releasing his hair from her trembling hand. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought she might pass out.

Steve sat up, slowly wiping his mouth, his breathing rough. “Don’t apologize for that.”

Danny reached for him, feeling suddenly and uncomfortably vulnerable. He came up to settle between her legs. His hand was warm and calloused when he swept it under her from the small of her back to the back of her thigh as he lifted her leg around his waist, sending shivers radiating out. 

"You ready?" 

Danny nodded, reaching up to touch his cheek. Steve lined himself up and pressed in, just an inch or so, then waited. She frowned at him and wiggled her hips, trying to get him deeper.

"Don't be a tease," she muttered, sliding her hand around the back of his neck and flexing her nails against his skin. Steve inhaled sharply and his hips stuttered, tiny thrusts that pushed him closer. 

"Oh, you like that," Danny said, happy to file that information away for the future. 

Steve pushed back into her hand. "Again." 

She grinned and gently raked her nails up the back of his neck, against his scalp, and then down again, and Steve shuddered and groaned, his hips slamming into hers unexpectedly. Suddenly they were both spurred into a rhythm that was easier to find than Danny felt it should be, given that this was only their second try. Sex with Steve felt so natural that it went a long way to helping her ignore what a mistake this could turn out to be. 

"Is this okay?" Steve sounded wrecked and Danny loved it. 

"Yeah, it's okay." 

Steve grinned. "Just okay? I'm overwhelmed by your enthusiasm." 

That set Danny laughing, to have her words thrown back at her. "It's absolutely okay." She tightened her thighs around his waist and pulled him down for a kiss. 

It shifted his angle within her and she broke away from the kiss almost immediately in favor of arching back hard, to try and hit that bright burn again. "That, there, right there, Steve," she cried out his name and then felt the wave crash over her hard, slamming her into orgasm again. 

When she opened her eyes again he was gazing at her with such an expression of tenderness that her immediate reaction was to respond with bluff and bluster, but she quelled the urge and just kissed him instead. If she couldn't be vulnerable with Steve, then she might as well give up on relationships entirely. 

"C'mon," she whispered, still riding out her own lingering convulsions around him. "Don't hold back on my account." 

Steve groaned and began thrusting again, hard and quick. Having found that perfect angle, he kept it and didn’t last long, grunting softly like he was in pain, then pulled out to finish on her stomach. Wet warmth spread between them, and Danny rubbed her thumb through the edge of it, letting herself feel the evidence of his desire for her, the sweat on her skin, the cool air swirling around them and the warm air between them. 

Steve rested his forehead against her shoulder and his breathing was ragged. Danny brought her hand up to curve around the nape of his neck. She had never been one to cuddle, but she found herself doing many things with Steve that she had never wanted to do before, to her surprise. 

"I've never really liked being on my back," she whispered against his temple, "but with you it feels different." 

"You know I'd never try to overpower you," Steve whispered back, sounding almost offended. 

"I don't mind if you do, as long as you know when to let go." 

Steve rolled to the side and used the sheet to clean them up. "Did something happen?" he asked very carefully, neutral. 

She shook her head. "Not the way you're thinking. It’s just hard to feel in control sometimes when you're five foot nothing, no matter how bossy you get." 

"I like when we fight. I like when you push back." Steve smiled at her, a sly smile like he was sharing a secret. Which she supposed he was, in a way. 

"That's good, because you're wrong so much of the time that someone has to keep you in line for your own safety. It falls to me to carry that burden." 

Steve grinned, the particular grin that crinkled his eyes and could light up a room, and made Danny's heart thump harder. "I'm good with that." 

"You really like when we fight?" 

"The way I see it, we balance each other out. We get our best ideas from fighting. You can't tell me you don't enjoy it." He pressed his mouth to her shoulder, sucking a kiss there and nipping with his teeth. 

She would have thought herself too worn out to want him again so soon, but one kiss had her clenching on nothing, feeling hollow. She closed her eyes and breathed, completely losing track of the conversation, until Steve hid a laugh against her skin. 

"Oh shut up, you goof," she muttered, guiding his mouth to her throat, where he dutifully kissed and licked on the way up to her lips. 

His fingers were so gentle when they entered her, mindful of how sensitive she was, his thumb swiping over her so slowly that she melted against him. He kissed her mouth so softly and for so long that she couldn't remember what it was like not to kiss him. When she came it felt like being wrapped in velvet, like something slow burning and inevitable. 

Eventually she opened her eyes he had a look of such contentment that she grinned, embarrassed. "I kind of forgot about you for a minute. You want some help with this?" She reached for his cock, half hard, and he shook his head, taking her hand in his. 

"I've got everything I need." 

She huffed at him. “Goddamn, Steve, you’ve gotta stop being so outrageously perfect. You’ll spoil me for anyone else.”

It was not one of her most well thought out statements, as those things went. She had meant to pay him a compliment, not imply that she considered this a one-off. Honestly, she wasn’t really sure what she considered it, but she knew she’d really put her foot in her mouth when Steve’s face shuttered closed and he let go of her hand.

“Steve, I--that’s not,” she tried, but the damage was done.

“It’s fine,” he replied, trying for a casual smile. “We can talk about it later. Right now, I suggest a shower.”

“Only if you join me.” Danny was probably really transparent, but she desperately wanted to see that open expression of a few minutes ago, even though her olive branch was weak.

He nodded slowly, then a little more decisively. “For you I’ll even try to stretch my three minute shower to five minutes.”

“Ooh, that’s real decadence, right there.”

The shower was definitely shorter and more efficient than she would have liked, but Steve did help her keep her arm out of the spray while she washed, and he dropped a few gentle kisses on the curve of her shoulder. She knew at least that her carelessness hadn’t ruined anything completely. 

Exhaustion was creeping up on her again and her arm was throbbing by the time they were done. She was surprised that she still needed sleep after having so much of it in the last twenty four hours, but she supposed that the combination of pain, meds, and sex was enough to take its toll on anyone.

He’d barely said a word for a long time, but without being asked, Steve handed her a pill and a glass of water when they made it back to bed. He made her stand in a corner while he stripped and changed the bed linens, and then they were both sliding into fresh, crisp sheets.

Danny curved her body against Steve’s in the dark, trying to reassure him with her touch that she wanted to be there, with him. He drew her in so that her head rested on his chest, and she closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of him, so achingly familiar. She tucked her hand against his ribcage to feel him breathing, and was hit with a stunning realization that her fears about potential fallout were dead wrong. 

She wasn’t afraid that she’d decide to run from a relationship and destroy their friendship. She was afraid that she’d want to stay.

~~~~ 

The next morning Danny woke up the smell of coffee and bacon, her two favorite foods. She located her tote bag of clothes and got dressed slowly in jeans and the blue t-shirt she had just a few days ago discarded, trying to move her arm as little as possible. As soon as she put on the sling she felt better, decided that she probably didn’t need heavy meds anymore. She took some ibuprofen from Steve’s medicine cabinet and then made her way downstairs.

She wasn’t sure what she would find in the light of day, but she had always believed in meeting a problem head on, and this was no exception.

Steve was at the coffee maker pouring coffee into two mugs. “Hey,” he said neutrally, so that she couldn’t get a good read on his mood. “I was just about to come get you.

“Morning,” she replied, getting up in his space to take her cup, purposely brushing her body against his. His breathing stuttered. If he was determined to be stoic about everything, she was not going to make it easy for him.

Steve was too tall to surprise with a kiss, so she had to curl her hand around his neck and draw him down to her. He just barely resisted, but when he met her mouth it was just like the kisses from the night before, lush and reverent.

“We should talk,” Danny said softly once Steve had straightened up.

He grimaced briefly. “Breakfast first, okay?”

She nodded, thinking coffee was a good idea before discussing feelings, since it was too early for beer.

There was food on the table already, scrambled eggs and toast and bacon. “Thanks for this,” Danny said, smiling. 

Steve ducked his head and took a sip of coffee. “You’re welcome. I figured we both needed it. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.”

Danny grinned and winked at him, and Steve finally cracked a smile.

“Oh, I talked to Chin this morning,” Steve said. “They think a couple of heavies from that drug ring are still in the wind, but they’re on the trail. I might go into work for a few hours this afternoon.”

“That sounds great, I’ll join you.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Steve, I can at least use a computer. I still have a working brain.” She fixed him with a look that didn’t allow for argument.

Eventually Steve sighed and nodded. “Alright. But you’re on desk duty, nothing more.”

Danny focused on her breakfast, grateful for the chance to get out of the house. 

Afterwards Danny went to the couch and waited for Steve to join her. Eventually he finished puttering around in the kitchen and came reluctantly to sit on the opposite end of the couch. Danny rolled her eyes. “For god’s sake, I’m not going to bite, Steve.”

He smiled briefly but stayed where he was.

“Okay, spill it. What’s this feeling you’re having?”

Steve looked at his shoes. “I get the sense that you don’t want this, beyond right now.”

“What gave you that impression? The stupid comment I made last night? I was joking, you big lug. It was just a tasteless joke.” Her heart started hammering, realizing that she had to give him some kind of truth as well, and she still wasn’t certain what it would be.

He cocked his head at her. “I don’t do flings, especially not with friends. If that’s what you were hoping for here, then we’ve both made a huge mistake.”

“Steve...I think we might have made a mistake no matter what our intentions. It’s always a terrible idea to mix work with pleasure. This is going to be awkward, there’s no getting around that.”

Steve’s expression was shuttered, closed to her. “It would be less awkward if we both want the same thing.”

Danny raised her hand, shrugging a little. “Steve, I honestly don’t know what I want to do. I know I want you, and I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“Danny, I don’t think that’s enough for me.” He sounded rough, like he was speaking without meaning to. “You pull me in and then you push me away, over and over. What I want never changes.”

She nodded and turned her head, blinking back tears she didn’t want him to see. “Would it be better if I left?”

Steve stood up and walked toward the lanai. He shoved his hands in his pockets and paused in the doorway. “Yeah, maybe.”

The walk up the stairs felt like scaling a mountain. She gathered her things, avoided looking at the bed, and went back downstairs on autopilot. Her keys sat on the table by the door, her car in the driveway. Steve was outside looking at the ocean, and she wanted to go to him. Without the answer he was looking for, she had no right.

It wasn’t until Danny had sat down in her car that she realized that without her right arm she couldn’t drive. She rested her forehead on the steering wheel for a long time, waiting for tears that wouldn’t come.

She eventually swallowed her pride and went back to the house, letting herself in the front door. Steve was sitting on the lanai with a beer, clearly having decided that it wasn't too early to turn to alcohol.

“Steve,” Danny said softly, approaching him.

He tensed up, but turned to look at her.

“I’m sorry. This isn’t what I wanted.”

Steve searched her face, looking for something and not finding it. “Until you figure out what it is you want, I can’t have you here. I just can’t look at you and not reach out, Danny. Not anymore."

Danny nodded once, feeling the tears come finally, at just the wrong moment. She wiped them away angrily, willing her voice not to wobble and failing. “You’re my best friend, Steve.”

“I want to be more than that.”

It was a simple statement, but her feelings were anything but simple. Her heart was a tangle of conflicting emotions, and she couldn’t focus when he was looking at her like that. She wanted to step forward and press her face to his chest, inhale his scent, absorb his warmth. But that wasn’t the same thing as wanting to try for something real.

“Look, I’ll...I’ll think about it. I just can’t give you an answer right now.”

“I think that’s an answer in itself, Danny.”

She frowned, anger rising from somewhere buried deep. “It’s not as easy for me as it is for you. I’ve got Grace to think about, I can’t just throw myself into a future without thinking of what’s best for her.”

“You think I haven’t considered that? I love that little girl, Danny. I want her around to make this place a home, for all of us.”

Danny felt stricken, unmoored. Steve was offering her the world, why couldn’t she just reach out and take it? She scrubbed her face with her hand. “I don’t know what to do.”

She jumped when she felt Steve’s arms come around her, holding her lightly, carefully. It was more than she had expected, and her heart wrenched. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m not happy about it, I’m not okay. But I’m not going anywhere.”

She laughed tearfully and looked up at him. “Neither am I. I forgot I can’t drive.”

Steve’s eyes crinkled, even if it wasn’t a full smile. “Oops.”

She sighed, resting her forehead on his chest. “It really was a wonderful night.”

“Yeah, it was.”

For a minute they just stood there, and Danny listened to him breathing. She couldn’t help but remember the way he looked at her last night, so open and intimate, and she thought maybe, maybe.

But maybe wasn’t a yes.

Reluctantly she pulled back. “I’ll call a cab, and pick up my car in a few days when I can drive again.”

“No, I’ll drive you. I can drop you at home on my way to work.”

“I’m guessing you don’t want me around at work right now. I understand, I’ll let you have some space. I think I can handle things by myself now, it barely hurts.” That was a lie, her arm actually was starting to throb, but there was no way she’d admit that to him and activate his hero complex.

“Okay. I bet Kono would love to help if you need it.”

“Yeah. I’ll call her.” Danny had no intention of calling Kono. As much as she enjoyed their friendship, she was in no mood to dig through her feelings with anyone else right now.

Steve stepped back, and all Danny could feel was the cold space he left behind.

~~~~

There was nothing more to say, and the drive to Danny’s apartment was silent. No bickering, no laughing, no fighting over the radio. It was surreal, and horrible.

When Steve dropped her off he kept the car idling, and looked like he had something to say. She ducked her face down to look at him through the window, but he just looked at her, then put the car in drive and drove away.

Danny’s apartment was too quiet, too empty. She picked up one of Grace’s headbands she had left on the floor and took it to her room. She thought of Grace, throwing her skinny arms around Steve in the ocean and laughing. She thought of herself, gripping his arms while he kept her from going under.

She thought of Steve saying, “I love that little girl.” She thought of the word home.

~~~~

That night Kono showed up at her door without an invitation. Danny sighed as she let her in, bracing for the inevitable.

Kono lifted a pack of Longboards and a big bag of Chinese takeout, and grinned. “Stand down, sistah. I come in peace.”

Danny took the offered bottle after everything had been set down in the kitchen, and clinked it against Kono’s.

“To hearts,” Kono toasted, “and the spectacular mess they make of our lives.”

Danny laughed in spite of herself. She collapsed on the couch and Kono followed her. “Let me guess. He was an absolute disaster today.”

“Like a train wreck. It was fascinating to watch.”

"It’s my fault, in case you were wondering. I did that to him.” Danny picked at the label on her bottle. 

Kono fixed her with a shrewd look. “I’m guessing you’re a bit of a train wreck yourself right now. If you want to tell me, I’m here to listen. Otherwise we can just get drunk and eat Chinese food, maybe watch a movie.”

Danny absolutely didn’t want to talk about it, so naturally she heard herself saying, “He wants a relationship. I don’t know if I can gamble everything on one night.”

Kono’s eyes were wide. “What kind of a night?”

“The best kind. The ‘I’m still sore’ kind.”

“Girlfriend, I don’t know if I want details, or if I want to spare my imagination the awkwardness.”

Danny grinned. “Let’s just say he doesn’t hold anything back. He’s Steve McGarrett, times one hundred.”

Kono flopped back on the couch, taking a long swallow of her beer. “If I had ever imagined what he’d be like, and I am absolutely not admitting that I have, I would have guessed he’d be that way. All that intensity.”

“Exactly.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“I can’t just throw myself into a relationship with him based on mindblowing sex. There are so many things I have to factor in. There’s our friendship. There’s our working relationship. There’s Grace.”

“Well,” Kono said slowly, “most people were already under the impression that you two were in a relationship. Since, like, forever. We just figured you weren’t ready to come out and tell us.”

“I--wait, who’s we?”

“Like, everyone except me.”

Danny pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. “Goddamnit.”

“So if you look at it like that, your friendship is already more than just friendship. Maybe you just couldn’t see it.”

Danny sighed. “That still doesn’t mean it’s a good idea, or it’s going to work.”

Kono shrugged. “Nobody ever knows if it’s going to work, or if it’s worth trying. The alternative is being alone forever, which hey, if that’s your thing then cool. But I don’t think that’s your thing.”

“So you’re saying that I just broke Steve’s heart because I didn’t want what we already have?”

“I wouldn’t put words in your mouth. You’re the only one who knows for sure. I’m just here to be an impartial witness.”

“Very impartial,” Danny said with a smirk.

“Well, I have a small stake in my friends’ happiness.”

“I guess I should say thank you. I still don’t know if I’m ready to give him an answer though.”

“Of course not, this isn’t a rom-com where you suddenly hop in a cab and race across town to declare your undying love. Just think about it.”

“I can’t stand the idea of him home alone, drinking beer by himself and cursing my name.”

“Where do you think Chin went after work?”

Danny grinned. “We don’t deserve friends like you.”

“Yeah, especially because I bring you the best Chinese takeout in town.”

While they were enjoying the food strewn all over the coffee table, Danny asked, “So what happened with the case? Those goons still loose?”

“Yeah, they’ve gone to ground. One of them is the brother of the guy that Steve took out, the one who shot you. The guys we caught aren’t talking.”

“Shit. Should we worry about retaliation?”

Kono made a doubtful face. “I want to say no, but there’s always a chance. I’d keep your service weapon near, just in case.”

“I can’t imagine they’d come after me. More likely they’d go after...Steve.” Suddenly her heart was in her throat.

“Hey, there’s nothing to worry about, Steve’s more than capable of defending himself. And anyway, Chin’s there. There’s no more reason to worry now than there was before.”

“Before…”

“Before you realized you were in love with him.”

Danny was silent for a long time. She wished she could argue, deny, bluff her way through, but the words wouldn’t come. Finally she just nodded and said, “Yeah, okay.”

Later, after Kono had left, Danny couldn’t stop thinking about the relationship she already had with Steve, and how it really wouldn’t be any different if they dragged the truth into the light of day. She was just afraid of the ghosts of her previous relationships coming to haunt her. Each one had started in good faith, and each one had crashed and burned. She was still dealing with the fallout of her marriage.

But like Kono said, no one ever knows if it’s going to be worth it in the end. And so far her worst fear was already coming true--their friendship was falling apart. She could let it burn away, or she could fight for it.

Danny had never been the type to stand down from a fight.

~~~~

At midnight, after trying and failing to sleep, Danny put on jeans and the tightest t-shirt she owned, and called a cab. She felt absolutely ridiculous, but she couldn't wait until morning. She'd already put Steve through hell, and she had a feeling that he wouldn't be asleep either. 

In the cab on the way over she tried not to second guess herself. She kept remembering the way he touched her, with passion but also with respect. He understood her the way no one else did, or ever had. Even at the best of times Stan had been a little intimidated by Danny's extroversion. Steve seemed to love it.

It occurred to Danny when she was about five minutes away that she should have called first. He might be asleep now, or really unwilling to see her. She decided to call him now, to save the possible awkwardness. 

The call went to voicemail, which was disappointing. She tried again after a minute, and the same thing happened. It was unlike Steve not to answer the phone, even this late, and she started to get concerned. 

Her car was still in the driveway, along with his truck. There were no lights on in the house, and Danny took a deep breath, suddenly not sure she wanted to wake him up. 

But the cab had already left, and she wanted so badly to apologize, to take him in her arms, to reassure him. She marched bravely to the front door, and that was when she heard it. 

She couldn't have said what the sound was, only that it didn't belong there in the darkened house. Cautiously she crept to the front window and peered inside. 

She could see straight through the back doors to the lanai, and Steve was there with two assailants locked in a struggle. It didn't appear to be going well for him. 

Heart in her throat, Danny fumbled for her spare key and let herself in the front door. She grabbed the drawer on the entry table, praying that Steve still kept a gun in there. Her fingers closed around it in the dark and she took a deep breath, lifting it and running for the back door. 

Both of the men were shorter than Steve but heavily muscled. Danny located two guns on the ground and could see that Steve had disarmed them, but he seemed sluggish as he defended himself, trying to land hits. When he staggered away from a glancing blow to the stomach, Danny could see rivulets of blood streaming from his temple. 

"Five-0, hands behind your head now!" she bellowed in her most intimidating impersonation of Steve at his most aggressive. The assailants spun to look at her in shock, and she leveled her weapon at the closest one. 

He sneered and rushed her, and quicker than she could blink she'd fired on him, striking him in the thigh. He went down screaming, and the other guy froze in place, his eyes wild like he was trying to decide his next move. 

"Uh uh," Danny said, taking aim. 

His hand twitched like he was thinking of going for the gun on the ground by his feet, and off to the side Steve coughed and said, "I wouldn't try it, she's crazy when she's angry. And she's really angry right now." 

"I'm really angry," she agreed with a nod. 

Slowly he put his hands behind his head and knelt down, defeated. Steve scooped up the fallen guns and disappeared into the house, returning with handcuffs. 

"You look like hell, babe," Danny said as Steve cuffed both of them. Her hand was shaking and she was glad to lower her weapon. 

"Thanks, babe," he replied, using the hem of his shirt to wipe the blood from his cheek. "You look gorgeous." 

She grinned and tossed back her hair. "I got all dressed up for you." 

Steve cocked his head. "Did you really?" 

"I really did." 

Steve stripped off his shirt and pressed it to the injured man's wound, and Danny made sure he saw her roll her eyes. 

"I could have grabbed you a towel." 

"No need. Didn't like this shirt anyway. Nice shot, by the way," Steve commented, and the man muttered 'fuck you.' 

"I was aiming for his other leg. I need to practice more with my left." 

It was an immense relief to be able to banter with Steve again like before, but she was all business as she called Kono and HPD. Steve's eyes kept straying over to where Danny stood, but his eyes were unreadable in the dark. Danny went around switching on lights as they waited for help to arrive, then went back to Steve. 

"You okay?" 

He looked up at her from where he was applying pressure to the perp's wound. "Yeah, they ambushed me while I was heading for bed. I might have a little concussion, no big deal." 

She sighed loudly. "Only you, Steven, would consider a head wound like that no big deal. You're insane, clearly. Too many concussions, I'm guessing." 

"Boss, did you get another concussion? Are you trying to fill up a punch card?" Kono marched out to meet them just ahead of HPD and the paramedics. 

"Everybody's a critic," Steve said, clearing out of the way so the bleeding perp could receive medical attention. A paramedic tried and failed to make Steve sit down and be examined, but a stony glance from Danny had him sitting docile. 

Kono caught up with Danny a few minutes later, eyebrows raised conspiratorially. "So what are you doing here? I thought you were going to do some deep soul searching, maybe have too many beers." 

"Soul searching didn't take as long as I thought it would. So I thought I'd hop in a cab and race across town to declare my undying love, like you suggested." 

Kono's cackle of laughter was gratifying. "And you just happened to show up in time to thwart an attack on the man you love." 

"It's a good thing I was here to rescue his ass," Danny said, just loud enough for Steve to hear. 

"Rescue--now hang on," Steve interjected, batting away the paramedic. 

Kono walked away chuckling, and Danny stepped closer to Steve. "Well what would you call it?" 

"Timely assistance in apprehending two assailants." 

"Please, you were drowning out here before I showed up." 

"I was waiting for my moment." 

"And here I thought you were waiting for me," Danny said softly, catching his eye. 

"What are you doing here, Danny?" He almost sounded surprised, like until now he hadn't questioned her arrival. 

She raked her hair back and looked away. "I shouldn't have left in the first place. I didn't want to wait until morning to tell you that." 

He shifted on his feet and his hands twitched, until he crossed his arms over his chest. "I need you to be more specific than that." 

Danny opened her mouth, but then a uniformed officer drew her away to make a statement. She watched Steve over the officer's shoulder as he distractedly picked up some overturned chairs, a frown on his face. 

When it was Steve’s turn to make his statement Danny escaped to the kitchen to grab a beer, because it had been a hell of a day, her nerves were shot, and it looked like sleep was a long way off. She leaned against the kitchen counter and pressed the bottle to her forehead, waiting for everyone to leave, waiting for her moment.

One by one all the uniforms and paramedics trickled away. Kono waggled her fingers at Danny and grinned, then made herself scarce. Danny waited for Steve to come find her, but when he didn’t, she realized that he’d already put himself on the line. It was her turn to come to him.

She found him in the living room staring out the window at the last of the police cars pulled away. His hands were in the pockets of his cargo pants, and he’d retrieved another shirt at some point. The line of his shoulders was defensive, which was an odd look on him.

“So…how specific do you need me to be? I’m in love with you. I’m willing to give this the best shot I have. It might still be a disaster, but I’d rather go through it with you than without you.” Danny waited for him to move, to speak, but he seemed frozen. “Is that enough? I was thinking we could repaint the guest room purple for Grace, she’s seriously into anything purple right now--”

That seemed to galvanize Steve into motion, and before she could finish her thought he was kissing her. “I like purple,” he mumbled between short, searching kisses, “purple is my favorite.”

“No it isn’t, your favorite is red,” Danny said against his neck, standing on the tips of her toes to bite her way down to his collarbone. Her relief was so acute that she could barely see through her tears.

“I’m changing it. I’ll even buy a purple couch, purple throw pillows. Purple table runners.” Steve ran his hands over her breasts, thumbing her nipples, spanning her ribcage with his fingers spread.

“Do you even know what a table runner is?”

“Not a clue. Gonna buy some anyway.”

“I don’t think Grace needs table runners, babe.”

“I’ll buy Grace anything she wants. I just want you to stay.”

Danny shoved him down on the couch and straddled him, pulling his shirt over his head. “I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’m an idiot, I’m such a putz, I’m so sorry.”

“Danny, you don’t--”

“Shut up, Steve, I’m trying to make it right.” She palmed his cock through his pants and shivered in anticipation.

He smoothed back her hair and grinned. “Don’t ever change, babe.”

This time, when he was sheathed inside her, kissing her slow and thorough, Danny didn’t even want to move. She just held him there, deep inside, feeling relief and the knowledge that she was loved, tangled heart and all.

“You called me ‘babe,’” she murmured against his lips.

“You did first.”

She pulled away to press her forehead to his and wrap her arm around his shoulders. “Yeah, I did,” she said, and smiled.


End file.
